Fall Colors

Often short windows of opportunity close before I realize that they were open to begin with. Every fall there's the best weekend for the leaf colors to be at their peak of brightness and diversity before all the colors start moving toward their inevitable brown and falling away for a long winter. Almost every fall I realize that I missed the peak of the colors in the hustle and bustle of my (sur)real life and I try to soak in and appreciate the slightly drabber color palate one or two weekends too late.

Not so this year! This past weekend the colors just popped out at me. There were some trees still fully green which made the yellows, oranges, and reds around them even more stunning. Not too many leaves had fallen and there was very little brown. All weekend whenever I was in the car I felt like it was the most beautiful ride I had taken this year.

On tuesday, the rain came, and today when I look outside, the colors are a little more faded and a little more brown. There's still a lot of fall left and the weather hasn't turned very cold yet, but the best part of the season just passed and for once I didn't miss it.